On February 21, 2001, Ashton Kutcher was supposed to pick his date, Ashley Ellerin, up at 8pm and take her to a Grammy Awards after-party. But he was late, and instead the pretty 22-year-old was murdered in her own home, her body lying undiscovered in a pool of blood for 12 hours.
Then 23, Ashton was supposed to collect the university student and part-time stripper at 8pm for dinner and drinks, but called at 7.30pm to tell her he was running late. Meanwhile, the trial of her accused murderer, Michael Thomas Garguilo, heard how she allegedly had consensual sex with the manager of her Hollywood Hills apartment, who left at 8.15pm.
At 8.24pm she phoned Ashton to say she was showered and drying her hair. But instead of going to pick her up as planned, Ashton stayed at his friend Christie Swanson's house, watching the awards on TV.
"I told her I would be a little late and she said , 'OK, see you later'," he told a trial into her death yesterday.
By the time he'd walked his dogs and driven to her house it was gone 10:30pm and she was already dead. Confused, he could see her BMW in the drive, the lights on in her house and what looked like red wine on the carpet
Ashton - whose star was on the rise thanks to That 70s Show - thought she was ignoring him for being late, when in fact she had been brutally murdered, and the wine was her blood. I knocked on the door, no answer. I knocked again, no answer. I looked through the window on the front door and didn't see anything. I tried the front door knob and it was locked," he told the jury.
I thought it was odd that the lights were on. It looks like it was a bit of a mess, but I didn't think anything of that because she had just moved in."I figured I had screwed up - I had showed up too late," Ashton - who went on to marry Demi Moore two years later - added.
A postmortem revealed Ashley had been knifed 47 times, with 12 of the blows fatal. There were defense wounds on right forearm and hands. Her windpipe and artery had been cut in two.
Chillingly, prosecutors told the court 'Hollywood Ripper' Garguilo had 'injected himself' into Ashley's life after changing her tyre and fixing her furnace. He'd been at her housewarming party two months ago, on the very night Ashley and Ashton first got friendly. Garguilo - who denies the murder - is alleged to have got himself a key cut and let himself into her split-level bungalow before murdering her in cold blood.
When Ashton heard the news, he flew into a tailspin because his prints were all over her door. "I went to her door, my fingerprints were on the door. I was freaking out," he told the court, revealing how he went straight to the police.
Perhaps red flags, but where is the proof?